The game is hard through repetition. You start a section of the game by lighting a torch/campfire area, so when you die you return to this spot. The next campfire area is about 15-20 minutes away or more, so if you don't reach it and die before you hit it, you spawn back at the last campfire.

Now, here's where it's repetitive. You collect souls for each monster you kill, you use souls to buy new items/potions/gear, etc, that's why it's called Dark "souls". So, say you are 10 minutes along after your last campfire, and you die (the enemies are extremely difficult at random times, to make sure you die a lot), now you must start all the way back, and unless you reach your body without dying again, you lose all your souls - every single one -.

Now, I gave up on the game, because I died at a boss, 20 minutes away from my last campfire. So, I died, had to walk 20 minutes back, and IF I didn't die on the way, I could regain my souls, die from boss, and walk another 20 minutes through the same monsters, same location, same everything - over and over and over and over - to the point of extreme boredom. The game insta kills you, you go 10 minutes fighting enemies not too difficult, then a guy comes out and 2 shots you, completely unexpected. So, now you must spawn all the way back again, hopefully not dying randomly again so you can collect your souls.

The game is build to annoy and frustrate, not because hard bosses or challenging enemies, but because the game is designed to make sure you die over and over and over, walking 10-20 minutes back (while fighting all the monsters that respawn when you die). The game had a lot of potential to be fun, challenge is fun, but it's designed to piss you off, not to challenge you.

__________________

"You lack the requisite spine and testicular fortitude to study under me"

The game is hard through repetition. You start a section of the game by lighting a torch/campfire area, so when you die you return to this spot. The next campfire area is about 15-20 minutes away or more, so if you don't reach it and die before you hit it, you spawn back at the last campfire.

Now, here's where it's repetitive. You collect souls for each monster you kill, you use souls to buy new items/potions/gear, etc, that's why it's called Dark "souls". So, say you are 10 minutes along after your last campfire, and you die (the enemies are extremely difficult at random times, to make sure you die a lot), now you must start all the way back, and unless you reach your body without dying again, you lose all your souls - every single one -.

Now, I gave up on the game, because I died at a boss, 20 minutes away from my last campfire. So, I died, had to walk 20 minutes back, and IF I didn't die on the way, I could regain my souls, die from boss, and walk another 20 minutes through the same monsters, same location, same everything - over and over and over and over - to the point of extreme boredom. The game insta kills you, you go 10 minutes fighting enemies not too difficult, then a guy comes out and 2 shots you, completely unexpected. So, now you must spawn all the way back again, hopefully not dying randomly again so you can collect your souls.

The game is build to annoy and frustrate, not because hard bosses or challenging enemies, but because the game is designed to make sure you die over and over and over, walking 10-20 minutes back (while fighting all the monsters that respawn when you die). The game had a lot of potential to be fun, challenge is fun, but it's designed to piss you off, not to challenge you.

Cheers for the in-depth. I definitely understand why you don't like it. It will probably piss me off as well. But I think I might give it a shot. In need of another game to play and it's cheap for a new-ish game.

The game is hard through repetition. You start a section of the game by lighting a torch/campfire area, so when you die you return to this spot. The next campfire area is about 15-20 minutes away or more, so if you don't reach it and die before you hit it, you spawn back at the last campfire.

Now, here's where it's repetitive. You collect souls for each monster you kill, you use souls to buy new items/potions/gear, etc, that's why it's called Dark "souls". So, say you are 10 minutes along after your last campfire, and you die (the enemies are extremely difficult at random times, to make sure you die a lot), now you must start all the way back, and unless you reach your body without dying again, you lose all your souls - every single one -.

Now, I gave up on the game, because I died at a boss, 20 minutes away from my last campfire. So, I died, had to walk 20 minutes back, and IF I didn't die on the way, I could regain my souls, die from boss, and walk another 20 minutes through the same monsters, same location, same everything - over and over and over and over - to the point of extreme boredom. The game insta kills you, you go 10 minutes fighting enemies not too difficult, then a guy comes out and 2 shots you, completely unexpected. So, now you must spawn all the way back again, hopefully not dying randomly again so you can collect your souls.

The game is build to annoy and frustrate, not because hard bosses or challenging enemies, but because the game is designed to make sure you die over and over and over, walking 10-20 minutes back (while fighting all the monsters that respawn when you die). The game had a lot of potential to be fun, challenge is fun, but it's designed to piss you off, not to challenge you.

Hey MC, this might interest you greatly.

Quote:

This month's fantasy PS3 and Xbox 360 hit Dark Souls has been described as the 'hardest game of all time'. The back of the box says simply 'Prepare to Die'.
One gamer has somehow beaten the whole game in one hour and 26 minutes - and in case anyone doubts him, he's posted the whole insane feat on YouTube.

Gamers often post videos of 'speed runs' through games - but even so, game industry insiders have been astonished that someone has beaten Dark Souls in such a short time.
The video guide, posted by a gamer called SexyShoiko, is already being pored over for tips as to how he did it.

Alex Simmons, UK Editor-in-Chief of games site IGN said, 'Speed runs are not a new idea - people have been posting them online for years. But for someone to complete a game this hard, this quickly verges on unbelievable.'
Gamers have pointed out that the game came out in Japan in September - but even so, it's an astonishing feat.

The video shows the gamer running through the game at full pelt, and downing most monsters in one or two hits. It's usually the player who is 'one-shotted' in this manner in Dark Souls - a sort-of sequel to last year's brutally hard Demon's Souls, and hailed as 'even worse' by game fans.
IGN's review of the game said, 'If you play games for fun, this is not for you.'
Keen-eyed gamers have spotted that the video appears to show Shoiko with magical items that he should not have by that point in the game - and have said that the video must be fake, or he must be using a hitherto undiscovered cheat mode.

Some people really like that style of game, but it's not for anyone who doesn't want frustration, and plays games for fun not irritation.

As for hardest game of all time, it's not hard, the enemies can be beaten easily once you learn their pattern, it's the extreme repetition and getting one or two shotted randomly and having to start all the way back that makes the game "hard". It's just frustrating, not so much hard.

__________________

"You lack the requisite spine and testicular fortitude to study under me"

This is really late, but I have the game, I beat it, and it's my favorite RPG of all time.

I understand why some people would quit, it's incredibly difficult, another thing is, they hide bonfires. I'm sure M.C quit at maybe the bull boss, because that's the only place I can think of with a 10+ minute walk to the bonfire, but the game isn't meant to be played straight forward I don't think. I've had an easy time with the game because instead of just going from boss to boss, I took time to explore the world, which is sooooooo vast and full of so many secrets that to this day I discover things I never knew were in the game.

I have about 3 high level characters and I can pretty much breeze through most of the game except for a couple bosses. This game DOES NOT allow you to make mistakes, it requires more skill than almost any other game ever made, but it's fair. I've had the game since the first day it came out in october or so and I can count all the "cheap" deaths I've had both hands.

Also, once you get into PvPing, the game is truly unique. I like to think of PvPing in that game like playing an anime.

Picture this:
You are a badass with a samurai sword enchanted with lightning, shooting fireballs out of your hands and with a back up shield to boot. Next thing you know you get invaded (someone entered your world with the intent to kill you) and you have to either hide from him, challenge the area boss, or fight the guy. The decision is made for you when the guy is 10 feet away and charging at you. This guy? He's decked from head to toe in fancy super heavy armor, holding a shield that's almost as big as his body in front of him and swinging a giant hammer over his head in your direction. How do you fight him?

Let me tell you, the ways you can build your character, they are infinite. Infinite character builds can be made, INFINITE!!!